'I was gutted': Rainbow sidewalk in front of central Alberta church vandalized
Police are investigating after the United Church in Ponoka was vandalized on Thursday.
Mounties say someone threw eggs and splattered tar and an unknown substance on the rainbow sidewalk leading to the church.
"I was gutted, shattered, just really demoralized," said Jessica Jones of the Ponoka Pride Society.
Members of the church congregation first painted the steps in 2020, to show solidarity with the LGBTQ2S+ community.
Graham Boys of the church said he's disappointed someone would vandalize the steps, particularly during Pride month.
"I'm glad that the people who did this, targeted us, and not an actual at-risk person because sidewalks can be repainted," he told CTV News Edmonton.
On Friday, community members came out to clean and repaint the sidewalk.
Community members clean and repaint the rainbow sidewalk in front of the United Church in Ponoka after it was vandalized. (Nav Sangha/CTV News Edmonton)
"Our community comes together. It always has, and we have a supportive and inclusive community," Jones said.
Recently elected Lacombe-Ponoka MLA Jennifer Johnson was invited to help repaint the steps.
Johnson made headlines during the election campaign after a video surfaced of her comparing trans children to feces in food.
Jones said she wanted to give Johnson the opportunity to show her support.
"I think she's scared, and she's scared to show her face around these issues because she needed to distance herself from them."
Johnson did not appear on Friday while the steps were repainted.
Jones said her comments only encourage this type of vandalism.
"When a leader elicits hate, I think certain things like this will happen."
In the wake of the incident, the Ponoka Pride Society has announced its hosting a Pride in the Park event on June 10 from 12 to 4 p.m. at Centennial Park in Ponoka.
Anyone with information about the vandalism is asked to call Ponoka RCMP at 403-783-4471 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Ponoka is about 100 kilometres south of Edmonton.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
U.S. flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States.